Monday, November 21, 2011

Nannie's Gravy

How to describe my grandmother, Nannie? Gentle, kind, warm, loving, loyal, and the best gravy maker God ever made! She is one of those women with the most beautiful old southern accent (you know the one I mean, where no R's or L' are really pronounced and yet it sounds like velvet when they speak), she makes everyone feel loved and welcome, she cares for her family above all else and is still best friends with the same women she grew up with when they were children nearly 70 years ago. One can't help but love my Nannie, she is truly all that it means to be a devoted wife, a loving mother, a doting grandmother and loyal and caring friend. I love her with all of my heart and count my blessing for her every day.

It was a couple years ago, after roasting countless turkeys that Nannie proclaimed she was ready to pass the torch and I was, of course, all too willing to pick it up! I knew there would be mutiny in my family though if I made any drastic, sudden changes, so one fine day, I went to my grandmother's house with a pen and paper in hand and wrote out exactly how she has done her turkey and gravy. Though I have made a few changes to the way I cook the turkey there is not one thing I have changed when it comes to making the gravy! To me, besides the family and friends, Thanksgiving is really all about the gravy....How could it not? It can go on ANYTHING and when you make it as well as Nannie always did when I was growing up you will want to add it to everything you can get on your plate.

Here is the recipe as I wrote it down that day...

As you can tell, this recipe as been through the ringer in the kitchen hints all of the stains and spills it bears. Here is how we make it...

After the turkey comes out of the oven remove the turkey to a large cutting board to rest before carving. Strain the drippings from the bottom of the pan removing all bits of turkey or vegetables used while roasting. You may need to do this twice through a mesh strainer to make sure the drippings are as smooth as possible.

Pour the drippings in glass jars and place in the freezer for an hour to separate the fat from the broth. If you don't have that kind of time pour the drippings into a gravy separator and wait for the fat to rise to the bottom and then pour into a pot leaving the fat in the gravy separator.

When the fat has completely separated scrape the fat from the top of the jars and dump the remaining drippings into a large sauce pan. Add enough chicken broth to make 9 cups of drippings/chicken broth. Place pot over low heat and slowly whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour for each cup of broth, plus one additional tablespoons (for 9 cups of broth this ill be 19 tablespoons of flour).

Once all of the flour is mixed in bring it to a boil over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoon kitchen bouquet for color (do this sparingly as a little goes a long way).

Clean three packages sliced mushrooms and place in a sauce pan covered in water and cook until the liquids have been absorbed and the mushrooms have cooked down.

When done combine with the gravy and refrigerate until ready to serve. Reheat the gravy in the microwave or on the stovetop before serving.

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